Small outboard motors, either electric or gasoline powered, are commonly used on small boats as the sole source of propulsion. Even many sail boats use a small outboard motor as an auxiliary power source. On many fishing boats with large internal combustion engines, a small outboard motor is also used to provide maneuverability while fishing, without starting the large internal combustion motor. Such auxiliary motors are quite common in the boating industry.
A particularly popular type of outboard motor for use as an auxiliary motor is an electric motor which typically is powered by auxiliary batteries carried on the boat. Thus, the fisherman can use a large, high horsepower, internal combustion engine to get from place to place quickly, while retaining a high degree of maneuverability during fishing. Such electric outboard motors offer the additional advantage of being very quiet in operation and very easily used.
Typically, electric type outboard motors are of two different types. One type uses a bracket which is bolted or clamped to the deck or transom of the boat, and mounts a shaft which in turn carries the motor on one end. The bracket provides a pivot mechanism by which the shaft, and the motor, may be retracted to a stowed position, in which position the shaft is essentially horizontal so that the motor is up and out of the water. In a lowered position, the shaft is essentially vertical and the motor is submerged into the water for use. The steering of such motors is accomplished by rotating the direction of thrust of the motor, by turning the shaft in its mounting bracket.
In the second type of motor, a foot pedal is provided which is connected to a gear mechanism in the upper portion, or "head", of the shaft by a cable, so that operating the foot pedal will turn the motor and shaft in one direction or another to change the direction of thrust and steer the motor. The foot pedal may also house ON/OFF and speed control switches. Such an arrangement is termed a "foot control" motor.
In another arrangement, which is generally less expensive, no foot pedal, cable or gear mechanism is provided and the motor support shaft is simply supported for rotation in the mounting bracket. A handle is often provided to extend from the upper end of the shaft or the "head" and the handle is used manually to turn the shaft and steer the motor in the direction desired. In this case, the ON/OFF and speed control switches are usually mounted in the "head". Such motors are known as "hand controlled" motors.
Because of their lower cost, and in some cases their greater maneuverability, the hand controlled motors are preferred by some fishermen over the foot controlled motors. Nevertheless, the hand controlled motors are often more tiring to use, especially if they are to be steered "by hand" instead of by foot. Further, the use of ones hands to steer the motor can be an awkward exercise while holding a fishing rod and/or fighting a fish.
For this reason, many fisherman who use a hand control motor end up using their foot to "kick" the handle to the desired direction while continuing to fish. Ordinarily the mounting brackets used on hand controlled motors have sufficient friction that the motor will stay in the direction desired without the need to continue holding the handle. By contrast, the foot controlled motors generally are more friction free, and the shafts or these motors, and thus the thrust direction, will turn in reaction to the torque and thrust of the motor.
However, the handles of the hand controlled motors in the past have been designed, for the most part, to be steered by hand, and not by foot. For this reason, the control switches are often placed on the top of the housing, and the use of one's foot is likely to break the switches. Similarly, the handles too are likely to break if the user rests his foot on the handle while steering with the foot.
Accordingly, a primary object of this invention is to provide an improved steering arm for outboard motors.
Another object of this invention is to provide a steering arm for outboard motors which may be operated by the foot of the user, without damage to the rest of the motor.
Still a further object of the invention is to provide a steering arm for outboard motors which may be added to a outboard motor without interfering with the installation of the motor on the boat.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a steering arm for outboard motors which has sufficient strength to be capable of foot use, and is of a shape as to be capable of use by hand as well.
Yet a further object of the invention is to provide a light-weight, improved steering arm for outboard motors of the electric type which overcomes the disadvantages of prior steering controls for hand controlled outboard motors.
These and other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent upon consideration of the following description of the invention when taken together with the accompanying drawings.